Essay

Most Indians tried to stay neutral in what they saw as a British civil war. Even when, eventually, most sided with the British, they were not fighting against freedom; like the American patriots, they fought to defend their freedom as they understood it. In Indian eyes, aggressive Americans posed a greater threat than did a distant king to their land, their liberty, and their way of life. The American War of Independence was an Indian war for independence as well.

Glossary Term – Event

American Indians from several tribes signed the Treaty of Greenville, ceding lands in the Ohio Valley to the United States in exchange for the federal government’s protection of remaining tribal lands from further white incursion.

Glossary Term – Person

Lord Dunmore (1732–1809), or John Murray, was the royal governor of Virginia best remembered for offering freedom to slaves who joined British forces during the American Revolution. After serving in Parliament and as governor of New York, Dunmore became the British royal governor of Virginia in 1771. In 1773, he officially dissolved the Virginia House of Burgesses in response to its efforts to create a Committee of Correspondence; however, the body continued to meet. In 1774, he waged Lord Dunmore’s War against the Shawnees in the Ohio...